Research On Yoga

by Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, PhD

Welcome to my personal website dedicated to yoga research. My hope is that this site will serve as a resource to support, and an inspiration to promote, scientific research on the psychological, physiological, therapeutic and even spiritual effects of the practice of yoga. I believe that research on yoga is necessary in order to provide the scientific evidence base to justify its inclusion into a wide variety of societal institutions and activities. However, it is also an engaging field of academic inquiry that will improve our understanding of human psychophysiology and behavior and promote the practice of yoga in the general public. These web pages will provide materials and information relevant for yoga practitioners, instructors and therapists, as well as for both novice and experienced scientists who wish to participate in this field of research.

“Persons that are equipped with an undying faith in spiritual culture and its attainment through Yogic practices, require no scientific interpretations of these for their progress. But those that take their stand upon reason, would be satisfied with nothing short of a scientific explanation of Yoga, if they are to be induced to take to it.” Swami Kuvalyananda, Yoga Mimamsa, Volume 1, Issue 2, February, 1925